‘Aspiring Lawyers Should Seek Role Models and Do More for the Attainment of Societal Justice’
Martin Adeniyi Ogunleye was born in Surulere, Lagos in 1967, attended Sunnyfields Primary school, Surulere and Federal Government College Odogbolu before proceeding to the Ogun State University where I obtained my Bachelor of Laws degree in 1987. I got called to the bar in 1988. I was the pioneer member & later chairman of Surulere Lawyers Forum, Vice Chairman of NBA Lagos and I am presently Chairman, NBA Lagos branch. I am active and passionate about service to humanity and the Bar. I was also secretary and past chairman of the Institute of Chartered Mediators & Conciliators, Lagos Chapter.
Have you had any challenges in your career as a lawyer and if so what were the main challenges?
Greatest challenges in my career as a lawyer are the same challenges lawyers face every day when the machinery of justice fails to work optimally or achieve essential justice. In our younger days, judicial officers worked hard, for long hours and were in control of their courts; lawyers were responsible and conducted themselves with honour and candour and our law reports were replete with terse but sound and effective judgments. The courts were respectable and respected but alas we lost it somewhere somehow.
Today, hardworking judicial officers are the exception rather than the norm, many sit and do the minimal work possible as is rampant in the civil service; lawyers are even lazier and take the most ludicrous positions even in the face of obvious truths, often are the cause of long delays in the administration of justice and are more interested in personal gain than in the cause of justice and fair play; court judgments today are unnecessarily lengthy but hardly logical; the coercive authority of our courts are no longer feared nor respected.
What was your worst day as a lawyer? I can't think of any day as my worst as a lawyer, and I pray such day never comes. 27 years of law practice for me has been challenging, but without these challenges a lawyer's life would be uninspiring. In the words of Christopher Sapara Williams, Nigeria’s first native indigenous lawyer, 'a lawyer lives for the direction of his people.' I remain firm in my belief of Sapara Williams' theory.
What was your most memorable experience?
I have had many memorable experiences but the most memorable was probably winning a long drawn land dispute for an indigent client who had been abandoned midway into the hearing by his former lawyer because of his inability to pay legal fees. This client would set out at 5 am and journey on foot to Ikeja just to attend court, such was the level of his impecuniosity. On the day judgment was delivered and on learning that he had won the suit, the old man lay on the floor shedding tears and I ran off to my car to hide my emotions.
Who has been most influential in your life?
Certainly the most influential person in my life was Martin Ogunleye I (of blessed memory), my late father. An avid scholar, voracious reader, polyglot, accomplished organist, deeply religious, admirer of traditional values, strict father and loving husband. From him I learnt the lessons that underscore my philosophy about life ...posterity judges men fairly for the service they render to the society and not for the amount of wealth they bequeath.
Why did you become a lawyer? I read law because the first lawyer in the family, my late uncle, Dr Wilberforce Odubayo died in his prime, aged just 42. I had listened to my father eulogise the great lawyers of his time, I observed his regret at the loss of Uncle Dele who was my mother's sibling and later learnt that my father himself had aspired to read law but had to opt for another career because on getting to the UK, he found out that he could not afford the fees whilst supporting his family back home in Nigeria. Thus my decision was made easy, Martin Ogunleye II would be a lawyer!
What would your advice be to anyone wanting a career in law?
My advice to intending lawyers is simple: the law profession is a career, not a job. It is not an avenue to get rich quickly but a vehicle with which to serve the society. It is a profession for the calm and the hard working. It is a profession for the courageous but not the proud. All aspiring lawyers should seek role models and be prepared to do so much more for the attainment of societal justice peace and good order.
If you had not become a lawyer, what would you have chosen?
If I wasn't a lawyer, I would have been an engineer or an animator. I would rather be doing something that keeps me away from a desk.
Where do you see yourself in ten years? In 10 years I would be on my farm tending to farm animals and spending my evenings drinking tea and writing my memoirs.